German Heavy Cruisers 1939–45

This extract is taken from the chapter entitled ‘Schwere Kreuzer Admiral Hipper.’

On 9 June, Admiral Hipper and Gneisenau encountered a British tanker escorted by a naval trawler. Gneisenau dispatched the tanker whilst Admiral Hipper took care of the escort, a rather uneven match. Shortly afterwards, Hipper intercepted and sank the 20,000-ton troop carrier Orama before returning to Trondheim once again to refuel.A period of relative quiet followed, though Admiral Hipper’s flak gunners succeeded in shooting down a British bomber on 13 June. On 25 July, while on contraband patrol, Admiral Hipper intercepted the Finnish freighter Ester Thorden, only to find that as well as the stated cargo of timber destined for the United States, she carried over 1.75 tons of gold. Rather than sinking her, the Germans sent her into an occupied Norwegian port under a prize crew.

In September 1940, Admiral Hipper returned to Wilhelmshaven for an overhaul. Towards the end of that month the cruiser sailed on a mission intended to see her break out into the Atlantic on a raiding mission. She sustained severe damage to the engine oil feed that resulted in a serious fire. For several hours, the cruiser drifted helplessly as engines were shut down so that the blaze could be tackled. Fortunately, there was no contact with the enemy during these dangerous hours and, the blaze eventually extinguished, on 30 September she limped back into Hamburg and spent just over a week undergoing repairs at the Blohm & Voss yard.

On 30 November, she sailed once again on her mission to attack Allied merchantmen in the Atlantic, successfully passing undetected through the Denmark Strait on 6 December. On 24 December, Admiral Hipper intercepted an Allied convoy consisting of around 20 troopships and covered by a sizeable escort consisting of a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, an aircraft carrier and six destroyers. The powerful escort, however, was not immediately detected by the Germans. Admiral Hipper opened fire on two merchantmen, which suffered considerable damage from her main armament. At this point, however, the heavy cruiser and destroyer escorts were spotted and the German withdrew under covering fire from her main armament, fearing a torpedo attack from the enemy destroyers.

Around ten minutes later, the enemy cruiser was spotted again off Admiral Hipper’s port bow and the German opened fire, scoring hits near the British warship’s aft turrets, on her waterline and also on her forward superstructure. At this point, Admiral Hipper disengaged, mindful of the torpedo danger presented by the enemy cruiser’s destroyer escort screen. During the engagement, in which the Admiral Hipper had damaged two merchantmen and engaged and damaged an enemy warship, part of a much more powerful force, she herself had suffered no damage. Now running short of fuel, Admiral Hipper set sail for friendly territory and docked in Brest on 27 December.